


bear hugs

by corvuss



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Mild Gore, No Plot, Tony's in here too at the end but he has like two lines so I'm not tagging him, Whump, just shameless whump and pain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 16:44:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15822903
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/corvuss/pseuds/corvuss
Summary: Bruce, delirious from de-Hulking, stumbles into a bear trap and has a really fun and great party.





	bear hugs

**Author's Note:**

> An anon sent me the ask: "Bruce got his leg stuck in a bear trap once, he was too tired from hulking out just before getting caught that he just hacks his leg off and crawl/hops back to the others, cue terrified and worried screaming from the others." so obviously I had to write it. 
> 
> ...And post it here, because I've had this account for years and never posted fic, wow.

He wakes up in a dead and frozen forest.

Dazed, Bruce stumbles backwards -  and hears the sharp clang of metal, the sickening crunch of bone - and then there’s a dull, heavy pain emanating from his left leg and he finds himself pinned to the spot.

He tries, instinctively, to scramble away, but then it hits him like a _wave_ , firey and throbbing outwards from his leg, just at the base of his knee, shooting all the way up his side. His head swims.

Something glints.

Fuck, fuck,  _fuck_ -

Through the sparks in his vision, he watches his irradiated blood spreading slowly outward, a sloppy semicircle around the steel trap, bright red against the glistening snow. It’s a small mercy, but...  _At least this is happening miles from civilization._

Flashes of memory hit him from before he de-Hulked. It’s foggy, but there was a fight –

The panic builds in his chest. He has to get out of here. Has to get  _out_. He scrambles backwards again, wincing as his flesh tears and the pressure of the metal teeth splinters bone with the movement. The trap’s chained tightly to the evergreen in front of him, he vaguely realizes, straining for-

 _Oh_.

There’s an old, rusted axe wedged near the base of the tree,  _oh thank God,_ because this is his only hope to getting back to the team, and without thinking, he finds himself gripping the ice-cold handle and using his good leg as leverage against the trunk, straining against the throbbing in his leg as black spots dot his vision - _have to get out_ \- and then he finds himself thrown back against the snow, clutching the unwedged axe like it’s a lifeline.

Bruce grins wildly, rapid breaths matching the mantra in his head:  _Have to get out have to get out have to get out -_

Hacking at the solid chains will take time he can’t afford to lose. He doesn’t steel himself or allow himself to hesitate; just barks out a sick, desperate laugh as he steadies his shaking grip on the tool - and brings it down on his kneecap with a sickening, solid  _crunch_.

For a split second it’s pins and needles, and then, white-hot agony he didn’t even know  _existed_ explodes from the contact point, as a ragged, involuntary scream escapes his throat. Head pounding, he stares at his leg, splinters of bone protruding from exposed muscle and sinew and _God, he hasn’t even cleaved halfway through._

He grits his teeth, inhales sharply, and swings again, and again, and again, tears beginning to blur his vision, blood roaring in his head; he keeps going, feeling something warm splash his cheek -  _popliteal artery - it’s fine, he’ll Hulk out if he bleeds out, most likely_ \- it hurts it hurts it  _hurts_ and oh  _fuck_ that’s a lot of blood - he laughs again, lightheaded, have to keep going  _you’re almost free_ -

“The fuck -  _Bruce_?!”

Tony’s voice registers at the back of his mind as he brings the axe down for one final blow, and the other man is sprinting toward him, crying out something he can’t quite make out, horror and dismay and _worry_   written all over his face.

_"What the hell?!"_

Bruce tries to get to his feet, nearly falling flat on his face as he hobbles towards Tony, suddenly acutely aware of the weight he’s left behind, and the pain radiating from his leg. A wave of nauseous dizziness hits him, and his vision blurs, and he’s not sure if he’s about to throw up or pass out. “It’ll grow back-” Bruce croaks, waving his hand casually, though he doesn’t sound confident. “I-I just need to -” 

There's a buzzing down at the amputation point. He stares down at his leg, watching, transfixed, as the mottled skin around the base of his knee turns green, and it  _aches_ , as slowly, his flesh begins to knit back together layer by layer - 

He collapses into Tony's arms.


End file.
